In recent years, there has been a continual increase in the use of electrical equipment in various industries, and the need for connecting various components of the equipment or systems containing disparate electrical components. By way of example, both lawn sprinkler systems and landscape lighting systems include a plurality of electrical components that must be electrically connected.
In these situations, it is common practice to electrically connect wires by means of an electrical connector. Some connectors require that the wires to be connected be stripped of their insulated covering to expose the electrical conductor prior to insertion of the wire into the connector. However, in practice it is very desirable to connect wires without first having to remove the insulation on the wire. To address this, connectors have been designed that include one or more pins for penetrating the insulation and contacting the conductor. In practice the pins are often bent or only make partial or poor electrical contact with the electrical conductor within the wire. Additionally, these types of connectors are susceptible to the impacts of the operating environment that includes stress, strain, and corrosion.
In other designs, the electrical connectors have included a slot for receiving the insulated wire. The slots are configured and dimensioned with sharp edges to cut into the insulation and electrically contact the conductor within the wire upon insertion of the insulated wire into the slot. A plurality of wires can be electrically connected by electrically connecting the pins or the slots to complete the electrical circuit between two or more wires that have been penetrated by the pins, or received and cut by the slots. However, in practice an operator does not insert the wire far enough into the slot to provide more than a partial electrical connection. Additionally, these connectors either do not make sufficient electrical contact, or cut into the conductor thereby creating a potential point of failure. Such failures can include heating, corrosion, and/or failure of the conductor within the wire.
It is also common practice to provide strain relief to the wires during or after the electrical contact has been made. The strain relief provides that when a tensile force is applied to the wire, the force is transmitted through the insulation or other portion of the wire, rather than the conductor or at the place of electrical connectivity. As such, the strain relief provides both a stress bypass and a protection for the electrical connection against damage. Generally, in the pin penetrating connectors, the connector is mounted externally to the insulation and only minimal strain relief to the connector and the inserted pins can be provided by a clamping arrangement of the connector around the wire. Similar slot connectors cannot easily provide for coupling to the wire insulation as the connector slot sides cut into the insulation thereby providing a point of failure to the insulation, rather than strain relief.
Such electrical connections are often placed in an operating environment that is hazardous or that can include hazardous elements or situations. Water or moisture infiltration into the electrical connection can cause electrical shorting, rust buildup, a deterioration of the electrical connection, the generation of heat or hot spots, and can result in ruined electrical equipment. Keeping the outdoor electrical connections watertight, however, can be difficult. Penetrating pin connectors typically only partially enclose the wire and clamp to the external surface of the insulation of the wire. Slot connectors cut into the sides of the insulation and do not provide a water-tight seal between the slots on the conductor or about the location of the slot, the cut, or the conductor within the wire.